


Castiel, Angel's Warrior

by Fix



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Lawyer Sam, Lawyer Sam Winchester, M/M, Reporter Dean, Reporter!Dean, Superhero Castiel, superhero!cas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2018-08-11 05:49:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7878892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fix/pseuds/Fix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean is a reporter and has been assigned to a series of stories on Castiel, one of the city's "Angels". He might have a bit of a crush, but it's ridiculous, really there's no way Castiel would ever notice him. He's too good for Dean.<br/>-<br/>Castiel is a part of a group of super heroes who defend this city. He harbors a slight crush on the man who does his stories for the paper. But, how can he peruse a relationship and maintain his identity. Would it even be safe for the reporter?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Bleeeep bleeeep. Dean could hear the lines lazily going off at the phone bank. He had gotten to work early like usual and after about an hour of torturous work, he had crashed and dropped his head down onto the table. He idly blew at a speck of dust that had landed on the paperwork in front of his face. 

Benny sat down at his seat opposite Dean after getting his morning coffee. He saw that his friend was sitting with the side of his face pressed against his desk. “Brother, what the hell are you doing?” 

Dean groaned. “PR. If I have to answer one more stupid person I’m going to scream.”

Benny laughed at him. “Well, that’s your fault for offering to do it.”

Dean sighed and tilted his head up from where he’d been laying it on the desk. “Yeah, oh well.” He had been the one to offer to answer questions people had for the newspaper. 

A couple weeks ago, Dean had been in a lull of stories, so when Bobby asked if anyone wanted to help answer the questions people had for the newspaper and general PR for when people got pissed at their stories, Dean had jumped at the chance to make some more money each week. He’d thought that it would mainly be dealing with the latter, but this extra task ended up being less dealing with angry assholes and more with stupid assholes, who were one-thousand times worse. Of course, the fact that soon after that he was appointed to cover all the angels stories and now had actual work to do, did not make him feel better about having to play ambassador to the idiots of this town. 

He sighed then jerked his body up and began sorting out the papers he’d messed up when he face flopped onto it. Benny took another sip from his coffee. 

~~~~~

“Winchester!” Bobby yelled from his office a couple minutes later. “Get in here ya’ idjit!”

Dean closed his eyes and let out a groan. “Finally, something interesting!” Dean stood up from his desk and walked over to Bobby’s office. He leaned against the doorframe. “Yeah, Bobby?” he asked. 

Bobby Singer looked up from his stack of papers. “Boy, it’s Mr. Singer at work; I’ve told you that a thousand times. Anyway, that superman of yours just hit downtown.” 

Dean squirmed a bit. He still felt weird about people referring to the Angels, specifically Castiel, as “his.” However, since he did cover all their stories for the newspaper, most people, especially people like Bobby, who worked with him, did. It wasn’t Dean’s fault that for some inexplicable reason Castiel refused to answer anyone’s questions but Dean’s. 

Bobby continued, “He liberated a building full of Naomi’s prisoners. As of now he’s still there. Go cover it.”

Dean nodded and headed out. He pulled his jacket off his chair and grabbed his keys and camera from his desk. 

~~~~~

Naomi was one of the main issues to the city, and one of the main antagonists to the Angels, a band of –Dean refused to call them superheroes, but in all honesty he couldn’t think of a better word— who ‘defended’ the city. Dean always felt weird talking about their fights. They were too much like something out of a comic book. His life was definitely not a comic book.

According to witness accounts, Naomi was a middle aged white woman with reddish brown hair. She always wore grey pantsuits and her hair in a tight bun. She kidnapped people and tortured them to near insanity then made them fight for her, basically her minions. Rumor was that Castiel, the one the Angels referred to as the “warrior,” had once been a prisoner of Naomi but had broken out. Which, Dean thought, was totally badass. 

~~~~~

Dean got to the scene. He guessed that the ambulances had been here for a while while he was only a couple of minutes after the police. He had passed three ambulances on the way here as they headed in the opposite direction, and three more were still loading up the freed prisoners who needed medical attention; some cops were already taking statements from the rest. People in bullet proof vests and cargo pants were lined up in front of the building with their hands tied behind their back. Dean figured they must have been the jailers. The cops were handcuffing them one by one and putting them into the backs of their cars. 

Dean snapped some pictures of the people getting their statements taken and the EMTs carrying someone onto an ambulance. He looked around for a familiar face and spotted detective Henriksen giving orders to some officers. Dean jogged up to him as he sent the officers away. Henriksen nodded at Dean. “Your boy’s still getting people out. I think he said this next round should be the last of them,” he said, jutting his chin over to the building. 

Dean blushed, someone had called Castiel “his” again. He looked over at the building. “Thanks,” he said. Then, turning back to Henriksen, “Can I stop by the station later to get your statement?”

“Sure, I’ll probably be helping with the processing for a while, though.”

“Alright,” Dean nodded. Just then he saw the doors open and there Castiel was, walking out of the double glass doors, leading five prisoners to freedom. Only two could walk on their own. One was holding the doors open. The other was supporting a woman with blood running down her right leg. Castiel was carrying the other two out. Dean took a picture.

 

Two EMTs were waiting with a stretcher and met the prisoners as soon as they walked down to the street. They took away the three prisoners who needed support. Dean snapped some more shots. 

Castiel pointed the other two in the direction of where police were taking ex-prisoners’ statements. He turned and faced the congregation of cars and people on the street. “These are the last ones,” he announced to the emergency personnel gathered around.

A couple people cheered as the last two walked over and an officer wrapped them in blankets to prevent shock. Meanwhile Dean approached Castiel. 

Dean walked over to the curb and stood in front of the man. “Castiel?” he asked, holding up his pen and notepad, “are you available for a brief interview right now?”

Castiel’s luminous eyes, previously angry and determined, lit up in a smile as he turned to Dean. “Sure, Dean. What would you like to know?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In hind sight, starting something the week before school was a terrible idea. But, I have four tests and a project due over the next two days, none of which am I remotely prepared for, so naturally my brain was like "time to update that fic from august!"

Dean walked back into the news building a couple hours later. He’d interviewed Castiel for a while and then stopped by the station to get Victor and a couple of the other cops who had been first to the scene. 

The interviews had all been really emotional. Especially Castiel’s. Apparently Castiel had indeed been a prisoner of Naomi’s before. Dean had had a hard time keeping himself professional while Castiel was retelling his experiences. 

Castiel told Dean he had been in a bad place. He said it was his choice to be there, that he had to do penance. His face looked so hurt then and his wings were tensed up. Dean had wanted to ask Cas more about that “penance,” thing, but Cas kept going and he didn’t have time for anything other than the Naomi story just then. Castiel said Naomi had gotten him out of it. 

At first, Castiel said, he had thought he was free. He let out a sarcastic laugh then that just sounded so defeated in so many ways. Dean hated that broken noise. He knew what new-found freedom felt like and he wanted to go punch whoever had taken that away from Castiel in the face. Castiel talked about how Naomi pulled him out but kept him as her prisoner. Dean had wanted to scoop Castiel up right then and there and take him away from everything. 

Cas continued. “Under Naomi,” he had said Dean, “I wished every day that I were dead. The things she made me do…” he had looked away with tears forming in his eyes. He cleared his throat. “She has powerful sources of intel and knows pretty much anything going on in the city at a given time. She forced me to… do things. Terrible things. I hated them, Dean, I hated myself! I almost couldn’t live with myself afterwards.” Dean was heartbroken. 

At one point during the interview a little while later Castiel’s throat had caught with emotion and he’d been unable to continue. Dean had excused himself then to give the man some privacy. After that he’d sat in his car, an emotional wreck. Not only had it been awful to hear about what Cas had had to go through, but it had also brought up memories Dean definitely did not want to think about. 

At the station, Dean walked over to his desk and gave Benny a nod. He dropped down into his seat and pulled out his notepad. 

Benny looked over at Dean with understanding eyes. “How’d it go, brother?” he asked gently. 

Dean let out a sad snort. “About as good as one of Naomi’s prison breaks can be. I got the Warrior's statement and… Well it turns out the rumors about him and her were true,” he said quietly. 

“Damn,” Benny said. There was really nothing else he could say, to that. 

“Yeah.”

Dean took out his camera. He’d have to go to the hospital later to interview the patients. He’d had Victor promise to let him know when the hospital called the police to say they were ready for interview. Victor said he was going to take their statements first, but he that he’d call Dean if any patients had the energy to talk to the press after that. 

Benny and Dean worked in a somber silence for the rest of the day. After uploading his pictures Dean planned out his story. He sent an email to Bobby saying roughly what he was planning. The Angels were a hot topic in town and Bobby wanted regular updates on every story Dean wrote on them as he was writing it. A story about Naomi’s prison break was huge, and Bobby sent him a reply saying to have the major details ready to be published with the morning edition the next day.

At six people started leaving for closing time. Dean was almost done with the story to be released the next day, and he planned on staying late until he finished. The piece didn’t have many interviews. He’d put in a couple quotes from the beginning of Castiel’s interview, but he would release a more detailed, personal story later. 

Benny got up to go. He cleared his throat. “How about we get drinks tonight?”

Dean looked up and gave Benny a grateful smile. “Yeah, man. Roadhouse?”

Benny nodded. “See ya’ at eight, brother.”

“See ya!” Dean waved and then looked back down. He finished a couple of lines and looked at the clock in the corner of the monitor. 6:34. He ran what he’d written through spelling and grammar check then added and formatted some pictures and emailed it to Bobby and Charlie at 6:43. 

He got his car keys and walked out to his car, eager to meet Benny that night and unwind a bit after today. 

###

Dean got home and talked on the phone with his brother, Sammy, for a while then took a shower. He headed out to the roadhouse and got there around 7:50. He parked his car in the lot and walked in. 

“Dean!” he heard someone shout and looked to the side. He saw Ash sitting on a pool table and waved to him. Ash jumped off and walked over as Dean made his way to the bar. 

“Heard you met with your boy-toy again today,” Ash said and clapped a hand on Dean’s shoulder. Dean sighed and took a seat. 

“Today was a long day,” he said, motioning at Jo to come over. 

“Leave ‘im alone, Ash. It was a prison break. Naomi’s,” Jo said from behind the bar. 

She leaned over to pour Dean his usual beer. Her shirt rode up and Dean saw an older looking guy eye her up and down. “Hey, creep, she’s my sister,” Dean said, scowling at him. The man raised his hands in a mock surrender and went back to his drink.

Jo made a face at Dean. “I can handle myself, you know, Dean.”

Dean sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. “Sorry, Jo. I’m a bit on edge after today.”

“Yeah, heard it was the Warrior who broke them out. Rough one,” Jo said consolingly, sliding Dean’s beer across the bar to him.

“OK, how does everyone already know about this?” Dean asked “my story doesn’t come out until tomorrow.”

“Charlie called, told us to worry about you,” Ash said. 

Jo socked him in the shoulder. “She also said not to tell him it was her!” she hissed through her lips at him. 

“It’s fine guys,” Dean said. “Benny’ll be here soon. Then I’m getting stupid drunk,” he took a sip of his beer. “But not really, because I have to work tomorrow,” he added. 

“Dean Winchester working instead of drinking,” Ash shook his head, “what has the world come to?”

“Shut up,” Dean smiled. 

“ASH!” Ellen yelled from across the bar. “Get back to work I’m not paying you to gossip! Jo you too!”

Jo rolled her eyes then winked at Dean and walked away to help the other customers at the bar. Ash saluted Ellen and nodded to Dean. “See ya later,” he said, then walked away through an ‘employees only’ door. 

The bell above the door rang, signaling that another customer had walked in. Dean turned around and saw that it was Benny. He waved him over. 

Benny sat down on Dean side that Ash wasn’t standing at. “Hey, brother,” he said in greeting. He waved at Jo. “I’ll have what he’s havin’,” he said, nodding towards Dean’s drink. 

They started talking about work, avoiding the heavier things, and Jo brought Benny his drink. 

“So, man, how’s Andrea?” Dean asked, talking about Benny’s wife. “Still on that work thing?”

Andrea was on a business trip. She worked in humanitarian aid, bringing blood transfusions and vaccines to areas with poor medical hospitals. 

Benny got a proud look in his eyes and started talking about everything his wife was doing. Dean listened and they made friendly conversation afterwards. Benny asked if Dean was interested in anyone. “Not at the moment, no,” Dean said.

Every time he met someone interesting in the past month or so, he hadn’t been interested enough to ask them out on a second date. His mind kept drifting to a certain man with glowing blue-white eyes and wings. Who saved the day and busted down doors with his bare hands yet still looked at Dean with tenderness in his eyes. Which was annoying as hell, considering Dean definitely didn’t even have a crush on the angel. He’d been covering Cas’ stories for the past three months, but recently he had started wondering about the angel on a personal level. It definitely wasn’t a crush, though. Dean knew Castiel was way out of his league, and Dean Winchester did not waste his time on unattainable crushes. 

Of course, Dean’s lack of success with dating recently only meant Sam and Charlie tried to set him up more. 

Benny gave him a knowing wink then changed the topic. They talked about Sam, and how his cases were going. By now both of them had finished their beer, both they both had to drive home so neither of them ordered anything stronger. They talked about Benny, and how his sponsor was (Benny was three years clean, and Dean had helped get him there and was proud of his friend). They talked about the shows they were watching, and eventually the conversation circled back to work. 

“Man, I don’t know how you get those Angels to talk to you. No one else ever could,” Benny said. Before Dean had started covering their stories, the Angels were a bit of an annoyance around the news station. 

They refused to tell anyone anything and simply flew away when someone stated asking questions. The only interaction they got from the Angels was when one of them, presumably the Archangel, would tape a copy of the newspaper with dicks drawn all over it above the clock in the lobby with a post-it note critiquing everything the reporter had said about the Angels. Now Dean got interviews and was even on a first name basis with the Warrior, Castiel.

“I don’t know either man, the Archangel glued me to my car once and then after that they just kind of… accepted me I guess.” That’s not all that had happened, of course, but that’s what Dean had told Bobby, and it was the story he was sticking to. 

In reality Sam had managed to lock up Lucifer, the city’s most powerful mob boss, and his second in command, Alastair, had kidnapped Dean. He’d been beating up Dean daily and said he wasn’t going to call Sam for ransom until Dean was already dead inside. He’d said it had to be that way. 

After four months, Castiel had rescued Dean. 

He had held Dean up and looked him in the eye saying “Dean Winchester, you have been saved,” until Dean believed him. Then he had flown Dean to a Gas’n’sip and left. Dean would have been screaming during that whole time in the air if he had been himself, but as it was he had just thrown up all over Cas’ right arm. 

Castiel had graciously never mentioned that event, not even today. 

After that Dean had been in the hospital for two weeks. When he got out Bobby made him take sick leave for. After a month Dean was begging Bobby to let him get back to work or he'd go crazy without anything to do. After much persistance Bobby finally agreed. Coincidentally Dean was assigned to go check out the scene the next day when the Angels referred to as Warrior and Renegade had unearthed a group of Lucifer’s followers on the city council. When Casitel had seen him he’d stared at him for several moments, not moving. Dean had stared back. When Castiel broke eye contact and flew away, the Renegade, Castiel's red-headed partner, had actually spoken to Dean. 

That was the first time one of the Angels had spoken to a reporter. Bobby assigned a couple other reporters to work angels cases on a rotation with Dean, but no one else ever got an interview. Bobby assigned Dean to work all the Angels reports after that, and the first time Dean tried to interview the Archangel he had, indeed, ended up glued to his car. It was not his finest moment. 

Dean didn’t want to worry his friends or make Sam feel guilty. He had told Sam it was one of Lucifer’s lackeys who had taken him, and that he'd been held in a cell, but nothing more than that. Sam had hired a personal bodyguard for Dean after that until Dean yelled at him that it was creepy and made Sam fire her. The only person he talked about that time with was his therapist, Pamela. 

By the time the conversation between Dean and Benny lulled it was almost midnight. 

“Better get back brother, there’s work to do tomorrow,” Benny said. 

Dean agreed and they headed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how does one italicize on ao3?


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank goodness for four day weekends. Happy day-after-Thanksgiving.

The smell of vomit and stale blood was in the air. The office building lobby, which had until recently been immaculate, was covered in the sources of the smell. Castiel fought back the urge to throw up himself.

 

These were the last five prisoners. One had gone ahead to lead them out as Castiel carried two others, one in each arm. He positioned himself so that he could watch the other two, supporting each other on the way out.

 

He had gotten there late, Naomi had known somehow. Many of the cells he had passed by had been empty, blood stains still on the floor; it was clear several captives had been hurriedly moved to another location. He freed those who were left row after row, counting all the prisoners who weren’t there anymore. Who he wouldn’t be able to free that day. Who will have to endure who knows how much more hardship.

 

He had stopped after fifty.

 

Two of the last five prisoners were crying. The one at the front simply looked dazed. Castiel thinks it is likely he’s been here the shortest amount of time. The two he was carrying were not conscious enough to cry. One has not opened her eyes. The other has been mumbling incoherently the whole time. Castiel suspects he was recently in the Chair.

 

He almost can’t handle this. All the memories have come flooding through. He remembers being in that situation, Naomi’s tools gleaming menacingly as he sat there, restrained. He remembers how…

 

_No. I can’t think of that right now, or I won’t be able to continue._

_Don’t think of what she did. Think of how you’ll make it better_.

 

The prisoner up ahead opened the door. Sunlight streamed in. Castiel handed off the prisoners to the medical first responders at the scene.

 

He saw a camera, obscuring the face of someone as they took a picture. _It must be Dean_ he thought.

 

Dean put the camera down and started walking over.

 

He looked at Cas with concern in his eyes. Castiel wondered if Dean knew about his past with Naomi. He’d heard people on the streets whispering rumors. Or maybe this situation was reminding Dean of when he himself was a prisoner, and Castiel had rescued him.

 

Castiel thought back to then. Dean was the only one he’d ever heard of surviving Alastair’s camp so long. Just one day in that hell would drive most people mad. Four months was unheard of. Castiel has heard that Alastair had started grooming Dean to be his protégé toward the end.

 

When Castiel had gotten there Dean had barely been lucid. He was so frail that when Castiel grabbed his shoulder to guide him out, it had left a bruise.

 

Castiel had been new to human interaction back then. He had tried his best to assure the man that he had been saved. He did not quite know what would be the best way to ensure Dean’s safety from that point, but the man had been throwing up a lot so Castiel had dropped him off at the nearest place where he smelled food.

 

 

 

“Castiel, are you available for a brief interview right now?”

 

Castiel looked at the reporter now. He doesn’t get to see him often, since usually Cas has left the scene of anything he’s done before anyone else arrives, leaning criminals tied up and evidence in an obvious container.

 

The reporter looked so much healthier. His eyes were vibrant, he was back to full weight, and, Castiel couldn’t help but notice, his muscles appeared as if he had been working out. He was even smiling.

 

Castiel really liked the reporter’s smile.

 

“Sure, Dean. What would you like to know?”

 

Dean. He had called the reporter Dean.

The reporter had called him Castiel.

 

That was a new development. The names. The time before last that Dean had interviewed Cas, Gabe had been there. Thankfully he hadn’t done anything too embarrassing, like tell Dean to propose or buy him roses. He had simply walked up between the two of them while Cas was being interviewed, taken both of their hands, said “Cas, Dean,” and walked away. Cas had then clarified that his name was actually "Castiel," but asked that Dean keep that out of the paper. He preferred the actual names of his team stay unknown. While any entity who bothered to look at the pictures in the news would probably recognize Anna's red hair or realize that the only rogue archangel was Gabe, going by their aliases--- Renegade for Annael, Warrior for him, and Archangel for Gabriel--- offered at least meager protection. Dean had not taken up saying “Cas,” but he did call him "Castiel," and Cas had begun calling Dean by his name. When Castiel got home that day, Gabriel made it very clear that it was now his mission to get Castiel and Dean together. Castiel had told him all the reasons why that wouldn’t work, but Gabe had merely listed all the signs that Cas was smitten.

 

Cas remembered the first time Dean had interviewed him. Well, not him really, but he had been there in the beginning. He and his siblings had agreed to never talk to the press about what they were doing in this city. They didn’t want its inhabitants panicking. Technically it wasn’t him who had broken that rule, Anna had done so first, but she said she had only done it because she was caught off guard by Castiel’s behavior. Cas didn’t blame her. Dean had walked over before they had been able to fly away, and Cas had seen him walking up he had stood ram-rod straight, his wings stiffening up. Anna said she had asked him if he was alright, but he doesn’t remember that. He remembers the reporter walking up to them, and then he was sure everyone could see him blushing once he heard the reporter speak, so Cas had flown off in a hurry. The reporter just had a certain air around him that made Castiel... feel something.

 

Castiel did not recognize that the reporter was the man he had rescued from Alastair until the paper had come out the next day and he saw the reporter’s name at the end of the story.

 

When Anna told Gabe the story, of course, Gabe started laughing and congratulating Cas for “finally showing some emotion.” The next time Gabe encountered a reporter it was, unfortunately for Cas, Dean. Gabe proudly announced that he had glued a reporter to his car as a hazing to join the family, so “anytime you wanna bring him home to meet the family, I’m one step ahead of you.”

 

Anna thought Gabriel was trying to move things along too quickly.

Castiel was mortified that any of them were even having this conversation.

 

 

Dean was asking Cas questions now. It was hard for Cas to talk about Naomi even still, but he tried. He didn’t tell Dean he’d been in purgatory, but he did tell him he had been somewhere bad. He also didn’t tell Dean that he was there as penance. That he had done something he couldn’t forgive himself for, ever, no matter how much Gabriel tells him it wasn’t his fault, he wasn’t himself. Naomi had been the one to ‘rescue’ him form purgatory. He thought, maybe this would be better, if someone else had freed him, maybe there were some angels left who didn’t hate him.

 

How wrong he was. Naomi told him she had seen him in action and wanted him as her soldier. She said she had watched as Castiel had slaughtered other angels, his bretheren, an act Castiel couldn’t live with himself for, and she told Castiel she wanted him to do it more. He didn’t tell Dean this part though

 

Dean asked Castiel if he could tell him what it was like under Naomi. Castiel told him how when he refused to do what Naomi wanted, she said she would break him. She tortured him daily. He told Dean “I wished every day that I were dead. The things she made me do…” he felt tears prickling at his eyes. He took a moment to compose himself.

 

He kept going, told Dean how Naomi knows practically everything about the city. He didn’t tell Dean about how she’d made him kill effigies of his loved ones. Dozens a day every day. Their blank faces were all he saw whenever he closed his eyes for months.

 

A bit later Castiel couldn’t handle it anymore. He could barely speak through all of his memories and he had to excuse himself. He flew off without seeing how Dean responded.

 

He flew to the woods out on the west side of town, where all his siblings when after doing anything in the city as an Angel. He flew and walked around until he was sure no one was following him, then he walked to the fake tree which led to the tunnels underground. He changed out of the costume he wore as the Angels’ Warrior, which allowed for free movement of his wings, and into the suit and trench coat he had left at the entrance to the tunnels.

 

As he walked home he tried not to think about Naomi, but he couldn’t help himself. By the time he got inside he collapsed, overwhelmed with emotion

 

Gabriel and Anna came up and physically supported him.

 

“I thought I could do it, but…” he started.

 

“No. It’s our fault, Castiel, one of us should have gone. We didn’t need to put you through this so quickly,” Anna said.

 

Castiel gave a meek laugh “It’s been months, I should be able to liberate some prisoners by now. It shouldn’t matter that their hers.”

“But it does matter, Cas, because they were hers.” Gabe said. He kept going, trying to reassure Cas. Cas knew Gabe was concerned, because he called him Cas, and he was speaking with an unusually serious tone.

 

When Gabe was done Cas thanked him. He couldn’t stop worrying though. “Naomi… she has so many more,” he said in a broken voice.

 

Anna looked at him with fierce determination in her eyes. “That’s why we’re going to get them all. One day.”

 

“And kick Naomi’s ass all the way back to the big upstairs!” Gabe said, pumping his fist in the air.

 

Cas gave his siblings a grateful smile.

 

“Thank you two, I’m going up to my rooms, I need to rest after today.”

 

“Of course, Castiel,” said Anna. Castiel walked around them and started up the stairs.

 

“I’ll make you a big breakfast tomorrow. Gabe special!” Gabriel hollered up the stairs.

 

Cas smiled and nodded his thanks down to his siblings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have not re-read this at all, but I hope there weren't too many inconsistencies.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh I went back and read the other chapters and there are s o m a n y inconsistencies. But it is already tomorrow, so that is a problem for another time. Also, I started this chapter at 10pm after doing homework all day, so it is not the best. Hope you enjoy, though!

The next day at work Dean was sitting at his desk. He had sent his completed story to Charlie for publishing first thing in the morning. That was a bit after Benny had arrived. He didn’t cover many stories outside of the Angels, so he had no work at the moment. Which he hated. No work meant nothing to do but think. Not the most fun thing to do. He had been drumming his fingers on the desk but Benny was still working and gave him the stink eye so he stopped.

 

He checked his email for a while, but it was mostly just junk. He decided he might as well do something useful and started to clean out his old photos on his computer that he’d never used in a story. He felt really productive… until after a while he realized that he’d just been looking at different pictures of Castiel for the past twenty minutes. Feeling a bit creepy, he turned off his computer.

 

By then it was about an hour until he usually ate lunch. He began seriously debating whether he could shoot spitballs at Benny without anyone noticing.

 

Before he got the chance to find out the answer to that question, his desk phone rang from an internal call. He picked it up. From the other end Bobby gave a gruff “Dean come down to my office,” then hung up.

 

Dean rolled his neck and stood up. “Goin’ to lunch early, brother?” Benny asked.

 

“Nah,” Dean replied “Bobby’s calling me down.”

 

Dean walked over to Bobby’s office. “What’s up, Bobby?”

 

Bobby barely even gave a roll of his eyes at Dean not addressing him appropriately. Not a good sign, Dean thought. “Dean. I’m gonna cut right to it, boy. Sit down.” Dean did as he was told.

 

“The PR job’s gonna pick up soon. Now, I know you took this job when you weren’t doing much ‘round here but twiddling your thumbs, but Charlie’s predicting these Angel stories’ll be picking up. You sure you wanna continue?”

 

Dean blinked a couple of times. Then he smirked. “Ya, Bobby… I mean, the extra money’s been nice; I like covering those stories; I’ll be good.”

 

Bobby raised his eyebrow a Dean.

 

“Nah, Bobby, really! It’ll be fine. Besides, I’m still paying off hospital bills, and I’m trying to get, ya know, a less shitty apartment.”

 

Bobby gave a shake of his head. “Boy you’re making this job sound like winning the damn lottery. But alright,” Bobby said, his eyebrows scrunched up. He was still seemingly concerned for some reason. Dean sat up straighter in his chair.

 

“Bobby, what’s up?”

 

“This one’s an important one, nowadays us paper businesses aren’t turning the greatest profit. Now, we do pretty well for ourselves, boy, but in order to run smoothly and pay you all, we need some donations every now and then.”

 

Bobby was talking in a very serious tone, giving Dean a look.

 

“I got it, Bobby. ‘Don’t screw this one up’,” he said in a voice trying to intimidate Bobby. ”Gee you make it sound like I can’t handle things.”

“That’s not what I’m saying at all, ya idgit.” Bobby sighed. “There’s a list of people who donated last year. Now, the only other one who wanted to do PR was the kid, Kevin. I don’t want him to have to interact with the more… shall we say ‘unsavory’ folks. So I split the list in half. Gave the kid the nicer half. Now, I know you have a complicated history with some of—“

 

“Bobby, Bobby!” Dean cut him off, waving his had in the air. “You’re not gonna bench me because you’re worried about me getting my feelings hurt!” Dean yelled. “I’m a big boy I can handle it,” he said in a mock voice.

 

Bobby gave another sigh. “Alright. Don’t say I didn’t try.” He gave one last look at Dean. “You don’t want to at least look at some of the names first? I can put out another offer, just bring one more person on to go around instead?”

 

Dean raised his eyebrow. “Seriously, Bobby?”

 

“I’m just worried about you.”

 

“Thanks, Bobby, but really. I’ll be fine.”

 

“Alright. If you’re sure.” Bobby opened one of his desk drawers and pulled out a large manila folder. “Here’s your list. Each person’s got a sheet with name, picture, amount they gave, and some sparse information.  Most of the city’s rich folks are on it, both politicians and the ones the cops can never quite get in jail. Your job, is to make sure they pay again this year.” He pushed the folder towards Dean.

 

He paused for a moment. “Well, ‘ask’ them if they’re donating again, then if they’re not, use that charming personality of yours to persuade them,” Bobby added with a note of sarcasm.

 

“Aww, ‘charming personality’?” Dean bashed his eyes. “Bobby, you’re making me blush,” he joked as he leaned over to take a look at the stack. He pulled it to himself and opened the cover.

 

Bobby continued, “Anyway, get to it.”

 

“Yes, sir,” Dean picked up the envelope and walked back to his desk. He took out his briefcase, and put the folder in there. Benny looked up from his work.

 

“I’m heading out, Benny,” Dean said as he lifted his bag onto his shoulder. He patted it with his other hand. “Gonna talk to some rich folks, make sure they keep giving us money so we don’t all loose our jobs.”

 

Benny laughed. “No pressure or anything. All right, best to you then!” Benny called after Dean as he nodded his goodbye and went out to the parking lot.  

 

~~~~

 

Dean pulled up at the house. It was his second day meeting with all the donors and he was almost done. He’d been putting this stop off the whole time, but he didn’t want to end with it so he decided to go second to last. He checked the list in his passenger’s seat to make sure that, yes, he really does have to do this. He sighed and got out of the car.

 

 _I don’t like this. I don’t like this. I don’t like this. I don’t like this_ he repeated in his head.

 

Swallowing his pride and dislike, he raised his hand and knocked twice.

 

A buzz sounded from a box to the left. A bored voice called out. “What, what do you want!”

 

“I’m here on business for the newspaper.” Dean heard a sigh from the other side. A moment later. A woman dressed in all black opened the door.

 

“Follow me,” she said, then turned around and walked down a hall. Dean scrambled to follow her. After a long series of twists and turns Dean was sure were meant to disorient him, they arrived at a door. She knocked once on the door, said “Dean Winchester,” then wlaked away.

 

A man opened the door. Dean walked in and the man closed the door behind him. Dean approached the desk in the center. The man sitting there looked up.

 

“Squirrel,” he sneered.

 

“Crowley.”

 

 

~~~

 

 

Dean had finished with Crowley and was sitting in his car outside the last donor’s house. He’d made it clear with Crowley that he didn’t want to be there. (“Don’t worry, squirrel. I know you wouldn’t want to dirty your now-lawfully-employed hands with the likes of me. Tell me what it is and get on with it, fortunately you’ve caught me at a busy time.”) The last stop was one James Novak. Dean knows he’s a philanthropist with a reputation for bee-keeping. He tries to keep out of the public eye so there isn’t much else he knows. He reads the file, which does contain more information than he knew before, though. Apparently he was living in a homeless shelter, one to which he now donates heavily, before he won the lottery (lucky son of a bitch). Then apparently he lost it all within two years but had set up so many returning investments that he’ll never have to work again. Room-mates with one Anna Milton, no romantic relation confirmed.

 

He walked up the steps to the house and rang the doorbell.

 

A woman with red hair opened the door. Anna, he assumed.

 

“Hello?” she asked.

 

“Good morning, ma’am. I work for the newspaper. James Novak is one of our major donors and I was wondering if I could speak to him. Is he available here?”

 

She smiled and gestured for him to come in.

 

~~~

 

Cas was eating breakfast with Anna in his kitchen. Gabe was putting on his “Trickster’s Treats” apron, preparing to leave for work at his bakery. “Remind me again,” he said, walking around with a lollipop in his mouth “Why you guys both get to live it up philanthropist style and I have to get to work early every day?”

 

“Gabe, we were all going to be philanthropists. You’re the one who said you wanted to just, quote, ‘spend all of your days surrounded by sweets’.” Anna said.

 

“You have a point there, sis.” Gabe said, popping his lollipop out of his mouth. “I’m still gonna complain though”

 

 Anna chuckled. “So Cassie,” she said. “Did you read the latest story?”

 

“What?” Cas furrowed his brow.

 

Anna waved a newspaper in the air. “There’s a new story by the one and only Dean Winchester!”

 

“Woo-ie!” Gabe shouted.

 

Cas picked up the article and skimmed through it. When he put the paper back down Gabriel’s face was right in front of his.

 

“So, Cassie,” he said. “What’dya think?”

 

“I think he wrote very respectfully. H left out some things which I’m sure the press already knows which the victims are, perhaps, not ready for the world to know.”

 

Gabe smiled at him.

 

“I also think you’re going to be late for opening if you don’t leave soon.”

 

Gabe gave a dramatic sigh and walked toward the internal exit. “See ya’”

 

Anna poured herself a glass of orange juice and sat down across from Cas. “So h---” She was interrupted by the doorbell.  She and Cas looked at each other, identical frowns of confusion on their faces.

 

"I shouldn't have any visitors today, should I?"

 

Anna shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

 

“Are you taking an audience here for some reason?”

 

“No. I was going to leave for the hospital in half an hour. I’ll go get it though,” she said, standing up.

 

A couple moments later Cas heard his sister’s muffled voice then a deep one.

 

A couple moments after that and he heard footsteps but Anna hadn’t said anything else. Fearing the worst, he brought his angel blade discretely into existence. “Anna who is it?” he called.

 

“He’s just this way,” he heard Anna say as she rounded the corner. She gave him a wink and he was confused until right then none other than Dean Winchester rounded the corner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it will, unfortunately, be a while before I update. Or try to fix the posted chapters. :|


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahaha so I lost all of my files, including the rough draft for this chapter and my plan for this story so the next few chapters are pretty much filler and I'm hoping to find what was list. Enjoy!
> 
> \--Edit, 16 March: Sorry if anyone was a fan of the old chapter 5 (7 Feb), but here's the new & improved, still mostly filler, chapter 5. The beginning is the same I just added some more stuff after. --

Castiel’s mouth dropped open. Anna raised an eyebrow. “James,” Anna said slowly and carefully, “this is Dean Winchester. He’s from the paper.”

Cas nodded that he understood. Dean was here to see James Novak, the philanthropist, not Annael and Castiel, the Angels. 

Anna turned to Dean. “I’m assuming you’ll want to speak with him alone, just give me a few moments to move to the dining room.” Dean nodded and Anna walked over to the table. 

She picked up her plate and glass from the table and gave Cas a suggestive look. He gave her a pleading look. He hoped it accurately conveyed Anna, 'don’t you dare leave me alone. He doesn’t even know me and I’m going to embarrass myself so much.' She patted him on the shoulder and turned around, so he guessed his look did not say all he was aiming for. Or that it did and she just didn’t care, which he figured was more likely. 

Cas was now keenly aware of the fact that he was not only in his pajamas, but had also not brushed his hair this morning and probably looked like a family of birds had attacked his head. 

Cas turned to Dean and cleared his throat. “The pape--” his voice cracked and he coughed, embarrassed. Then he remembered that he was supposed to be speaking as James Novak, which he usually made his voice slightly higher for anyway. 

“Anna said you’re here for the paper?”

Dean seemed to pause, and stared at him for a beat. Cas felt a sinking in his stomach, worried that he’d already blown his cover. Then Dean said, “Yes, Mr. Novak,”

Cas did not like the sound of Dean Winchester calling him by such a… stiff name, so different from his own. “Mr. Novak sounds so formal. Please, call me, uh,” shoot. Cas realized he couldn’t very well have Dean calling him by any name that felt truly his. He tried to think of a name James Novak would want to be called by. He couldn’t imagine Dean calling him James as Anna had just done. “Jimmy,” he said, saddened as he realized this man he’d grown to care for –yes, he will admit to caring for Dean, not necessarily to anything else his siblings say about him and Dean—would never even be able to learn his name. 

“Alright then, Jimmy” Dean said “Like Anna said, I’m here with the paper. I know that you donated a significant amount of money to us last year and, well to put it bluntly, I was wondering if you planned on doing the same this year?”

Castiel swallowed “Right, well, please, have a seat. I’m sorry to greet you like this,” Cas said as he tried, in vain, to smooth down his hair with his hands. “I wasn’t expecting any visitors today. Would you… uh… like some food?” Cas gave himself a mental high five for not blushing or stammering too much while he said that. 

Dean stepped forward “I shouldn’t intrude. Besides, I’m just here on official business.” 

Alright, Cas thought to himself, I can do this. I’ll just be James Novak and get him out of here before something slips out.

\---

Something felt a bit off about this woman. But then again, something always felt off about rich people, so Dean didn’t think too much of it. As he followed the woman into a grand entranceway, he asked. “So, Miss, would I be correct in assuming you’re Anna Milton?”

“You would indeed,” she said in a flirty voice. “And what is your name?”

“Dean Winchester.”

“Well, Dean, I’m sure C-James!” She exclaimed a bit loudly, which Dean thought was a little strange, “will be more than happy to talk to you.” She said as she started walking down a hallway. Dean followed her until they stopped in front of the entrance to--Dean presumed based on the heavenly smells wafting out of it-- the kitchen. “He’s just this way,” she said. 

Dean followed Anna into the kitchen. He had seen a lot of fancy homes while going down this donors list, so by now he had more than enough experience that he didn’t openly gawk at the beautiful kitchen, but he did look around in a way he hoped was discreet. Finally, his eyes settled on a man seated at an expensive-looking wooden table in the kitchen. Something felt off about this man too. But he looked absolutely stunning. 

His jawline was probably the sharpest thing Dean had ever seen. His eyes were the most piercing shade of blue Dean had ever seen. His hair… was not the sexiest Dean had ever seen, but it was definitely high up there. Very high. 

“James,” Anna said to the man, “this is Dean Winchester, he’s from the paper.” Dean thought she sounded pretty flirty again, so he figured that was just her voice. 

James Novak kind of stared at Dean for a while and as Anna left they seemed to have some sort of intense stare-down. The intensity Dean could see in Novak’s eyes and Anna’s back made him begin to doubt that they were entirely unentangled roommates. 

“The pa-” James Novak’s voice cracked and he cleared his voice. 

“Anna said you’re here for the paper?” 

James Novak’s voice had sounded… familiar when he’d spoken at first. It had kind of reminded Dean of—

But that was silly. It couldn’t be Castiel. His voice was too high now any it would be kind of hard to hide glowing eyes and a gigantic pair of wings. Dean was just seeing Castiel every dark-haired white man these days. Besides, the man was still in his pajamas. He probably just woke up and that was his morning voice. Some morning voice, though, Dean thought. Anna even did look kind of like Renegade—

Which is even more proof that this man could not be Castiel. It wouldn’t make sense for the Renegade and the Warrior to be living together without the Archangel. And it wouldn’t make sense for Castiel to suddenly be named James. 

“Yes, Mr. Novak, I--”

He cut Dean off. “Mr. Novak sounds so formal. Please, call me, uh… Jimmy,” he said with a strange face. 

“Alright then, Jimmy,” Dean continued with a small smile. “Like Anna said, I’m here with the paper. I know that you donated a significant amount of money to us last year and, well to put it bluntly, I was wondering if you planned on doing the same this year?”

“Right, well, please, have a seat. I’m sorry to greet you like this,” Jimmy said. He tried to smooth down his hair. Dean guessed, but running his fingers through it seemed to just be messing it up further. Not that Dean minded. He gave up on his hair with a blush. “I wasn’t expecting any visitors today. Would you… uh… like some food?”

Dean tried to insist that he really was just here on official business, but if he was honest with himself, he didn’t have anywhere to be in any rush, and the food did smell divine. So, even after the philanthropist with the piercing blue eyes said he did plan on making a repeat donation this year but, “I do feel bad if you came all the way out here just for that. Maybe you’d like to take some food as recompense? It’s from Trickster’s Treats, do you know it?” can you really blame Dean for staying? A man has needs, and if Trickster’s Treats’ breakfast is half as good as their pie…

So Dean had breakfast with the philanthropist living at the edge of town. They talked about Trickster’s Treats, which it turned out they both frequented, although Jimmy mentioned he’d never had their pie, and Dean said that was an injustice he simply could not stand for. That topic of conversation led to Trickster’s Treats’ candies, which lead to honey, which led to Jimmy’s bee keeping, which led to Dean’s love of cars, which led to Baby. Dean was smiling almost the whole time. By the time Dean actually did have to leave, around two hours later, he felt lighter than he had in years.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank goodness it's finally s u m m e r. Hope you enjoy!

“Damn, Cassie boy. Here again? You must have it even worse than I thought for this reporter boy, huh?” Gabe said. Cas was sitting at the counter in Trickster’s Treats, Gabe’s restaurant, spinning around an empty coffee cup.

“Shhhhhh! Gabe! Someone could hear, I’m James in public. And I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I'm talking about the fact that you’ve stopped by the bakery every day this week, ever since you heard that reporter say he likes my pie. I have to admit, he’s got good taste in food as well as men,” he said with a wink toward Castiel. Castile blushed as Gabe continued “but maybe you should come up with a better strategy for seeing your lover boy than just… waiting around here, hoping he’ll show up.” 

Castiel was blushing even more than before “he is not my lover. And I'm not trying to see him. It would be foolish to pursue him. He's human." Cas said. Whether he was trying to convince Gabe or himself, he honestly couldn't tell. After his brief meeting with Dean the other day, he kept thinking about the man. It had been fun to talk to him in a non-professional way. But, it definitely would be foolish to try to build a relationship with Dean. He could reveal his identity as Castiel and put Dean in danger. Then again, if he knew that, what was he doing here. "Besides, can’t I just want to hang put with my bother?” 

Gabe gave Cas a look. “You live with me. You can see me any time. Before this week I could count on my hands the amount of times you’d been here since we landed on this planet. Now you’re here every day of the week!? At least admit what you're here for” he patted Cas on the shoulder. “Do that much for yourself.”

Cas returned the look with a small smile. “I have no idea what you’e talking about, Gabe.”

Gabe sighed. “Alright, but at least order something if you’re gonna keep taking up counter space.”

“I ordered coffee!” Cas said indignantly.

“Yeah, hours ago!” Gabe shouted, laughing. “Rainforests have dried into deserts since then!”

Cas sighed and chuckled. “Alright, alright. Get me another, two cream, two sugar.”

Gabe drummed his knuckles on the table and pointed at Cas. “You got it, bro!”

Cas chuckled at his brother’s antics as he heard the bell above the door announce a new customer come in. Then he heard the unmistakable voice of Dean Winchester conversing with the cashier. 

Cas turned his head to the cashier to check for sure. Dean noticed him and made eye contact. He paused in his conversation and licked his lips. Cas had definitely not thought this through. He whipped his head back around. He heard Dean finish ordering. 

‘Please don’t come over here, please don’t come over here. Please don--,’ Cas thought to himself as he heard Dean’s boots walk further into the restaurant. Dean sat down in the bar stood next to Cas. 

“Hey, Jimmy!” Dean said as he took his seat. “How’s it going?”

“Hey, Dean. Things are going pretty well.” Cas said, making sure to use his higher voice. “Not much has changed since last we spoke. Did you secure enough funds for the newspaper’s next year?”

“Yeah, uh we got enough,” Dean said. “Thanks for your renewal, allowing us to keep the city informed and safe!” he said with an overly cheesy voice and a smile.

Cas laughed. “It’s good to see you again, Dean.”

“Goo—” Dean started as Gabe came up to them and placed a coffee in front of Cas. Cas cursed in his head.

“Yesh. You’re talking like you haven’t seen each other in ages. It’s been less than a week, buckos.”

“Uhh,” Dean stared at Gabe.

“This is,” Cas cleared his throat, making sure to remember the fake name Gabe had thought of. “Loki, the owner. Loki, this is Dean.” 

Dean was still gaping at Gabe. Cas’s eyebrows creased. Dean's silence was concerning. He hoped Dean hadn't spent enough time with the Angels to recognize his siblings, but he was just now realizing that he had inadvertently introduced Dean to all three Angels. He unleashed a litany of curses in his head, hoping Dean hadn't put two and two together. “Dean?”

Dean shook out of it with a jolt. “Sorry. You were saying?” 

Cas glared at Gabe. Gabe raised his hands in mock surrender. “I was just dropping off your coffees. Have fun, kiddos.” He said, winking at them as he walked away. 

“You, uh, know him?” Dean asked Cas.

‘Shit,’ Cas thought. He hoped that meant Dean didn't suspect anything and frantically tried to think of a way that philanthropist James Novak would be so familiar with a restaurant owner. 

“Yeah, I, uh, come here a lot.” 'Great,' he thought to himself. 'Real convincing and not suspicious a lot, Castiel.'

“You spend time together outside of the restaurant?” Dean asked. 

Although his ‘people skills’ were rusty, Cas was pretty sure Dean was asking if he and Gabe were romantically involved. Which Cas found disturbing in many ways. But Cas could’ve sworn Dean seemed… bashful. An expression he never thought he would see on Dean Winchester. 

It looked absolutely adorable. 

But, he immediately assured Dean he was not at all involved with “Loki.” At all. 

Dean gave a relieved smile. “Cool." 

There was an awkward pause where they looked at each ither. Then Dean picked his coffee up from the cnouter and hopped off his stool. "Well. I was on my way to work, so I better get going. See ya, Jimmy." 

There was another awkward pause as they looked at each other again. Cas got the feeling he was supposed to say something but he didn't know what. He eventually settled on. "See you, Dean."

Dean nodded at him with a strange face and left. 

###

~~~

“For here or to go?” the cashier at Trickster’s Treats asked. Dean opened his mouth to answer when he saw James Novak at the counter. He couldn’t believe his luck. Dean had been meaning to speak to the man again but thought showing up at his house again might’ve been too… stalkerish. 

He paused and licked his bottom lip involuntarily. James whipped his head in the other direction. 

“Sir?” the cashier asked.

“Oh, sorry. To go, please.”

Dean paid and made his way over to James. ‘Alright, Winchester. Be cool, be cool,’ he thought to himself. He plopped down in the stool next to him. “Hey, Jimmy! How’s it going?”

He and Jimmy made some small talk for a bit until someone came over with two cups of coffee. Dean paused in what he was saying as the man came closer. He seemed distinctly short. And with that blond hair… he looked a lot like the Archangel. 

The man placed the coffees in front of them and James said something. They seemed to know each other. Dean registered it in the back of his mind. The two people he knew that Jimmy knew both bore striking resemblance to two of the Angels. And Jimmy himself did look a lot like Castiel.

“Dean?” Dean snapped out of it. He would think about this later. “Sorry. You were saying?” 

Jimmy was glowering at the man. “I was just dropping off your coffees. Have fun, kiddos.” He said, winking at Jimmy. Dean wondered if they were… close. 

“You, uh, know him?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, I, uh, come here a lot.”

“You spend time together outside of the restaurant?” Dean asked. 

Jimmy made a face. He looked disgusted. Shit, Dean hoped he wasn't homophobic. He was about to start panicking and thinking he seriously read Jimmy wrong when he answered. He seemed flustered and embarassed but not offended. And he didn't repremand Dean on how what he'd been asking about had been 'unnatural' or anything. Dean felt relief wash over him. “Cool.” He replied. 

They looked at each other for a beat. He wasn't sure what to do, so he picked up his coffee. "Well. I was on my way to work, so I better get going. See ya, Jimmy." 

There was another moment between them and Dean somewhat hoped Jimmy would invite him to talk more. Maybe even ask Dean to make good on his promise to introduce him to the pie at this very restaurant...

"See you, Dean"

But that was a naive thought. And, if he was entirely honest with himself, that was probably for the best. He wasn't even sure whether he was into Jimmy for Jimmy or because he looked like Cas. Dean nodded and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i changed some stuff in the previous chapters, so if you've read them before you might want to skim them again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dean's POV

~~~  
Dean was definitely not moody as he walked into the office that morning. Not in the slightest. He doesn’t know what Charlie’s talking about when she claims the contrary. No sir, Dean Winchester does not get moody because some random dude didn’t want to invite him to hang out. 

Even if he, hypothetically, had been a little moody, it would definitely have been cleared up by lunch break, because Kevin had finished all the names on his side of the list the night before and it was announced at lunch that, while they’d known for two days now that they’d have enough money for everyone to stay employed for another year, they now had enough extra money that they could finally replace the flier printer and probably even the coffee machine that, after years of valiant service, had broken down on Monday. And, Bobby had announced, after the cheers at that had died down, there was going to be a celebratory gathering at the roadhouse on Sunday, after people were done delivering the Sunday edition, for any staff member and any guests they wanted. 

That resulted in even more cheers and the room erupting into conversation before Bobby reminded them that lunch was almost over and reminded them with amused gruffness that “Ya idjits better not be late getting back to work!”

So Wednesday went pretty well.   
Thursday, on the other hand, went very differently.   
~~~  
Dean had gotten to work earlier than necessary, as usual. He had decided not to stop for coffee on the way, even though he knew the machine was still broken, for no particular reason at all whatsoever. Seriously.   
But now he was regretting his choice to go caffeine-free this morning. Seriously. 

There hadn’t been any new Angel’s stories since the Naomi camp liberation last week, so Dean had nothing to do but go through more PR emails. The absolute stupidity of some of the questions people sent made him want to punch his computer screen. One man had threatened to sue the paper because his child had found the one of the cross-word puzzles too challenging.

The added challenge of trying to stay awake enough for office-level human interaction without caffeine was not a plus, but Dean had been ready to settle into a day of PR work. Then, someone from the telephone bank came and told him that there was something going on with the Angels and gave him the address.   
~~~~~  
He pulled up to the scene and parked his Impala. He hadn’t passed any ambulances on the way there, which was strange for a skirmish involving the Angels. He supposed that was a good thing though, maybe this time the Angels were only apprehending criminals, not saving victims. When he got to the scene, however, he realized how wrong he was. 

Surveying the scene outside the building, it seemed like every cop in the city was there. At least every forensics personnel. Some of the people he saw looked like they couldn’t be much older than Kevin. He thought they had to be interns. The police would have to be desperate if they even had them out, working the field for an actual crime, not holed up in a lab. 

From what he could see of the front lawn, it looked like a huge fight had gone down. There were splotches of blood all over the lawn, along with what looked like thick, black goo. The windows looked like their insides were covered in blood as well. 

All this blood plus no ambulances did not add up to anything good. 

A detective he recognized started walking up to the door. Dean tried to get closer so he could get a picture of the inside when the door opened, but a woman in uniform held a had up. “We’re not letting anyone past this point, sir. Not even press. You can go wait over there behind the tape if you want.” She pointed over toward the part of the curb nearer the main street, where a large group of people was gathered. 

Dean was not a fan of the kind of people who hung around crime scenes just to look, and he figured it would be easier to get someone’s attention later if he wasn’t in a crowd. “I’ll just stay here, thanks,” he shot the woman a smile, “but don’t worry. I won’t go forward.” She nodded at him and walked away. 

He looked back at the entrance in time to see the door close behind the detective. The small bit of the wall he’d seen through the open door had been spattered in more blood and goo, but underneath all that, he could just make out what looked like symbols, drawn in some dried mixture of the blood and goo. 

No, not just any symbols. Sigils. 

He felt bile start to rise up the back of his throat. He took a deep breath and turned around, leaning against the Impala with his back to the scene. He took more breaths, trying to calm himself before he had a full blown panic attack. 

In  
Hold  
Out,   
In  
Hold  
Out,   
In  
Hold…

The hysteria in his mind receded, and he took stock of his situation. 

Those may or may not have been sigils. He was not going to try for another glance but, really, what else would be written like that. 

He had not seen sigils since he was being held captive by Alastair, so he decided he would definitely not go down that train of thought. Maybe he’d bring it up with Pamela later

He could stay here and try to get a word from one of the police personnel around, or an Angel, should one eventually walk out.   
But did he really want to hear more about this? And it could be ages until anyone was willing to talk to the press. 

Or he could call Bobby. Tell him what happened and how another reporter should be put on this one.   
But then Bobby would tell Sam. And Sam would want to talk. And Dean definitely did not want to talk. 

So he decided to wait it out at the scene.   
Not at all like a coward afraid of talking to his little brother.   
Definitely not like a man still swimming in post traumatic stress who should probably be putting more effort into his mental health.   
No.   
More like… a dedicated reporter who didn’t want anyone stealing his story. Yeah, that was it. 

Dean groaned to himself. This was going to be a long wait. 

~~~

Renegade stepped out of the house with two detectives and they came to join Castiel and Archangel on the lawn out front. Dean had been watching the other two since they’d stepped outside with a detective and begun speaking with some of the forensic techs outside. After a brief discussion between the three detectives and the three Angels, one of the detectives with Renegade pulled aside the detective that had come out earlier and began talking with her. The other detective brought Renegade over to the three forensics techs he was speaking with. Castiel and Archangel were looking around, and Archangel caught sight of Dean watching them. 

The Archangel nudged Castiel with his elbow and jutted his chin toward Dean. Castiel looked over and gave Dean a look he interpreted as “I’ll speak to you later but later might not be for a while.” Dean made a face he hoped said “no rush, I’ll be here.”

Dean had already texted Benny that he’d be at the scene longer than usual, maybe even all day, so waiting longer was fine. As he’d been waiting Dean had mostly been trying to figure out what in the actual hell could’ve gone down. He was a bit hindered by the fact that he had no idea what that goo was and did not want to think about the sigils, because in his mind those only led to one thing…

There’d been no recent Angel-related activity in the city-- and they tended to only go after crimes committed by certain people, though he’d yet to figure out what was so special about those people, other than them being high-profile—so the goo was the biggest clue. No one who’d stepped away from the scene to the line of police cars had been willing to comment, though, so he’d taken to people watching. Maybe the types gathered would provide a clue. 

He’d made out at least two of Crowley’s goons in the crowd gathered on the other side of the lawn out front before Castiel and Archangel had stepped out, but that was nothing unusual. He looked at Castiel and mentally compared him to Jimmy Novak. Of course, the idea that Jimmy was the Clark Kent to Castiel’s superman was absolutely ridiculous, but Dean figured there was no harm in indulging his fantasy. 

Archangel looked a lot like Loki from the bakery, but Dean was finding the idea that the joking, strange man from the bakery could be the serious, pulled-together Angel even more hard to believe than the idea that the Angels were somehow able to turn off their glowing eyes and make their wings disappear. 

But, Dean thought as his reporter mind kicked in, if, theoretically, they could hide in plain sight, among people, that would explain why Jimmy and Loki had seemed so close. And it would explain the striking similarities between them. When Renegade had walked out, Dean looked at her anew, this time comparing her in his mind to Anna Milton. 

The resemblance really was uncanny. 

~~~


End file.
